Page 89

Atlas

A tlas’s jaw clenched as he took in the scene below. Elowynne was beside him, her golden eyes gleaming in the sun’s light as she concentrated, her fingers delicately weaving through the air, amplifying the fears of The Night Wraith’s crew.

Her power held each pirate in a grip of horror, and he would be lying if he said it wasn’t difficult to watch. He glanced around, taking in the pale, horrified faces of his own sailors as they observed her alongside him.

But these pirates deserved it—they had taken his brother.

They deserved far worse.

“Now?” Samwell asked, his eyes wide with fear as he watched the men writhe and scream below.

Atlas nodded and lifted his hand to give the signal. “Now.”

On command, Draevyn’s crew withdrew their swords and marched toward the crew of pirates, surrounding them as they barely registered their presence through the haze of their terrors.

Atlas gave a nod to Elowynne, and they both followed their men, descending the hill.

“Surrender, and perhaps your fears will leave you,” she announced .

Atlas stepped forward, his voice dark and calm. “Yield, or the nightmares will follow you to the depths of hell where you belong.”

“Fuck you!”

Atlas’s eyes fell to the man who screamed the words as he twisted in terror on the ground, squirming as he shrieked. Elowynne’s eyes were now focused on that man.

Still, The Night Wraith’s crew wouldn’t yield to them. Some clung to their weapons with a desperate grip, resisting even as terror clawed at their minds. Elowynne let out a grunt at his side as she pushed her magic further into them, showing no mercy.

Yet, they staggered to their feet, weapons raised, half-screaming, half-snarling.

“This is forbidden!” a man bellowed, his voice a fractured roar that hid barely-contained panic.

Everyone’s attention snapped to him, and Atlas noted his pointed ears—he was interested in how a single crew held members of all kingdoms. He had never seen or heard of such a thing. “It’s forbidden to cast your mind upon elven!”

A cruel smile graced Elowynne’s lips. “Then perhaps you shouldn’t have taken my betrothed’s kin. Now, where is he?” she snarled. “Where is Prince Draevyn Rowe?”

A sense of pride came over Atlas as she relentlessly fought alongside him to find his brother, even if her tactics were terrifying. “Tell us where he is before your lives are forfeited.”

The writhing man stood defiantly. “You’re fools to think we wouldn’t welcome such. We have fought off worse than the darkness that awaits us. And if you kill us, you’ll never find your precious Phoenix .”

He spat Draevyn’s dreaded nickname as if it held venom, sending Atlas further into his rage.

Atlas’s lips curled into a grim smile, his shadowy tendrils curling around his arms as his crew readied themselves. “You haven’t met my darkness, woodland cunt .”

With a silent command, he released his shadows, allowing them to spill across the isle’s floor like a black mist. It curled around the pirates’ legs, lifting their bodies and restraining their movements.

The men staggered, slashing at the shadows, but their weapons merely passed through the inky tendrils, leaving them tangled and helpless as Elowynne continued to attack their minds.

Samwell advanced on the mouthy man he assumed was the captain, his gaze icy and unwavering as he dodged a wild swing from the male’s cutlass.

In one swift motion, Samwell grabbed the pirate’s wrist, twisting it back until he dropped the weapon with a pained gasp.

Tommy lunged forward and forced the man to his knees, tying his wrists behind his back.

Atlas then forced the shadows around their mouths, acting as gags and silencing their screams and retorts.

One by one, The Night Wraith’s crew were bound and gagged, lined up along the outskirts of the cave they came from. They struggled and cursed, but the shadows only tightened, holding them firm as his crew finished cuffing the rest of them.

“That’s enough, my love,” Atlas said, his voice low.

Elowynne lowered her hand and lifted her illusions, leaving the pirates gasping through their gags as they blinked and squinted, trying to shake the visions. But their eyes quickly refocused on Atlas and his crew, their faces riddled with fury.

Atlas’s shadowy hold loosened enough for the pirates to catch their breath.

“You came here with someone. Yet he isn’t here with you.

Now, unless you’d like to be dragged back in chains to face Lephyrin’s gallows, I suggest you cooperate.

” He paused, his fists shaking at his sides.

“Where. Is. Draevyn?! Where is my brother?”

The writhing male met his stare, a cold fury in his eyes. “He’s no longer with us.”

Atlas’s heart stopped in his chest, unknowing of whether the man meant they murdered him, or if he escaped. He unsheathed his sword and placed the tip on the male’s chest. “And why might that be, you dirty brute ?” His lip curled in disgust.

The pirate winked. “Easy there, Prince. If you’re going to flirt with me, you should at least acquire my name. Which is Jak, by the way. It’s lovely to meet you and your little mind manipulating bitch. ”

Atlas struck him at his outburst, and a satisfied cackle escaped Elowynne from a few paces behind him.

“I don’t give a damn what your name is. Now, you’re clearly the acting captain, since Cyrus rots in one of my cells.

Tell me where my brother is, or I will gut you here and now.

I was told he was lured out by a woman. I don’t see her among you either. ”

The crew erupted into vicious chuckles, as if anything he had just said was funny.

Atlas took a step closer, his voice low and dangerous. “You kidnapped a son of the king in the dead of night, and you think I’ll accept your words claiming he just vanished? You think I will accept the word of a pirate ?”

“Aye, well, it’s the only word you’ve got, mate,” Jak taunted.

Atlas pressed the tip of his blade further into his flesh. Jak’s jaw ticked, his nose scrunching as a bead of blood rolled down his chest, staining his shirt.

“Gods, stop!” the elven male from before bellowed. All eyes moved to him down the line. “Something happened in that cave—something none of us were prepared for. They were both lost.”

“Riven!” Jak growled at his crewmate.

“What do you mean something happened?!” Atlas’s face twisted with horror. Elowynne ran up to his side and laced her fingers with his.

The pirates shifted, each one looking at the cave’s mouth as if it might swallow them whole. Jak spoke then, irritation evident in his voice at Riven’s outburst. “Your brother was taken as a tool for negotiation with your father.”

Atlas’s mind emptied as he took in the words. His father knew about this? Negotiated this?

“Our captain, Esmyra Blackwood, kidnapped your precious, fire-wielding prick of a brother, planning to barter an exchange for Cyrus,” Jak continued.

Samwell spoke up then. “You expect us to believe that our king handed the life of his son, and second heir, to the most feared pirates in all of Rymelle? ”

Jak snickered. “We weren’t exactly expecting that either.

” He returned his attention to Atlas. “When she bartered for the life of our captain against the life of your brother, your king proposed another thing entirely. He wanted proof of Maerinys and its wealth that rests at the bottom of the ocean.”

The moment he said Maerinys , Atlas knew he was speaking the truth. How would the pirates know his father had been after it for years? Sending Draevyn out on endless quests for months looking for it.

“To prove he was trustworthy and that Cyrus wouldn’t be harmed, he told us to take Draevyn. If either were harmed, the deal was forfeited. Esmyra was to bring back both Draevyn and evidence of Maerinys in exchange for Cyrus.”

Atlas swallowed, his nostrils flaring in disgust toward his sire for once again betraying his own flesh and blood. “So, how were they both lost?”

“They just vanished,” Riven answered for him, and Jak rolled his eyes.

Atlas’s anger flickered into a scowl. “Vanished?”

“There was a cave-in, and they fell,” Jak said, voice pained as if grieving the loss himself, which Atlas found odd. Pirates didn’t give a damn about anyone but themselves.

“There are workings of magic in that cave,” Jak continued, “and as the ceiling tumbled down on us, the Phoenix shoved Esmyra off a cliff, but she took him with her. One moment, they were there, and the next they were swallowed by shadows.”

A cave-in . There was a chance Draevyn had perished.

Atlas imagined himself beheading the man before him right then and there, but Elowynne placed her hand on his shoulder. “Listen to what he has to say,” she whispered. “I sense no lies.”

And neither did he, which made it that much more unbearable to hear.

“A veil of some kind now acts as a barrier between us and where they fell,” Jak continued. “We’ve tried everything to get through it, but it acts as its own entity. Unbreakable by blade, gunpowder, or any force of magic. It holds power —a significant amount, if I may add.”

Atlas’s eyes narrowed, suspicion darkening his expression. “And I’m supposed to believe you? Take the word of the realm’s most notorious criminals.”

All of their faces hardened, and Jak spoke once more. “Believe what you will, Prince . But we didn’t want him gone—he’s more useful to us alive than dead. Whatever magic binds that cave, it’s beyond anything we’ve ever seen.”

Atlas’s jaw clenched. “Well, who’s to say you tried hard enough?”

Jak chuckled, but it was devoid of warmth as his eyes narrowed on him. “Aye, trust me when I say…no one wants to get through it more than myself. I have quite a few words for your wretched brother for damning her alongside him.”

“Looks like I’ll have to go see this veil for myself,” Atlas spat, his shadows curling around his fists. “And then, you’ll sail with us to Lephyrin and live the rest of your days waiting for the gallows’ noose.”

Without waiting for a response, Atlas nodded to his men. They hauled the pirates to their feet before dragging them away from the cave and down the rocky path toward the ship as they bucked and cursed at them.

Samwell was guiding Jak to follow the rest of the crew, but Atlas stepped in, halting them.

“Not so fast.” Atlas looked Jak up and down beneath furrowed brows. “You’ll be showing me this veil.”